Bird Day Design: 2012

Monday, 30 April 2012

Zenit-E

After a few days of holding our breath, Bird Day received a nicely battered package today (oh yeah!) which contained the latest camera rescued from the trading limbo of ebay. This package however, did not contain just one camera but was full to the brim with optical treats.

The main features of the lot were two Soviet Russian Zenit-E cameras from 1971, one of which, we were informed, would not work for an unknown reason. This was exciting enough, and as they emerged from the package, the sight of the Russian text on the leather case made us feel as though we had received a piece of history. Equipped with a Helios-44-2 58mm lens (which has been awarded the title of best performance-to-cost lens ever made), I would have been chuffed paying the £25 for this camera alone (the box said postage alone cost £10, so the actual bundle was a bargain at £15). But wait, there's more! In addition to the kit lens, a 70-210mm Miranda telephoto lens, a prakticar 2X teleconverter AND a Hanimex 28mm wide-angle lens were included. The telephoto is a beast to say the least, but I'm most excited about the Hanimex - I've always wanted a wide-angle, but the sheer cost for DSLR compatible lenses has made this an impossible dream.

A final bonus (and it is a big one) is the Miranda 700CD flash that also came with the camera. This is the first flash of the collection and after much playing around/blinding each other, I'm chuffed to say it works and that I can now abuse extreme amounts of light.The kind ebayer also included two expired films (June 2004 was a good vintage apparently) which might produce some interesting effects, or indeed nothing that any commercial developer will actually give you.

That's about it for the lot, except yet another camera bag for the collection. Once the films in the fish-eye and the other communist camera have been depleted, this camera and it's wide array of lenses will make their debut on the site.

Monday, 23 April 2012

Camera Blog # 1

I have decided that it's only right to publicly announce the newest arrival and addition to the camera clan - the exquisitely robust Minolta SRT 200. In true Bird Day style, it was found lying miserably in a charity shop window and after quickly throwing plenty of pennies at the lady behind the counter, the camera and a compatible Celtic lens was safely in our possession.

I must say that it I am somewhat excited about using it and seeing what this bad boy can do - shutter speed ranges from 1/1000 of a second to unlimited and - a first in the collection - a viewfinder that alters in brightness as you change the aperture, although how much this reflects reality I'm yet to find out. The Celtic lens has a minimum focusing distance of 1.5m, but this is sorely needed due to current lack of zoom.

To be honest, it all boils down to one thing - I can't wait to use another camera with the old lock-and-load feel when you move the film on. I just like to pretend it's a rifle. Oh yes.

Watch out for the fruit of this beast coming to Bird Day soon!